In
Norse mythology, a Valkyrie was one of the beautiful maidens of Odin who
hovered over the field of battle, choosing those to be slain and conducting
worthy heroes to Valhalla. In her more recent incarnation, as a magnificent
sportfishing yacht, Valkyrie plies the offshore battlegrounds as her owner
pursues a prize catch, perhaps some worthy specimen destined for the fishbox
beneath her cockpit sole.

Measuring
an impressive 120 feet overall, Valkyrie is clearly not your run-of-the-mill
fishing machine. Capable of around-the-world voyaging on her own bottom,
she's a custom raised-pilothouse motoryacht with a luxurious interior
designed by Robin Rose & Associates. But she's also fully rigged
for sportfishing, complete with outriggers, fishing cockpit, and custom
fighting chair. Her cockpit is the same fore-and-aft length as that of
the owner's prior yacht, a 72-foot sportfisherman. And though the
120-foot Valkyrie might not be as nimble, full walkaround side decks mean
the owner can work his rod all the way around the yacht while fighting
a fish. And just forward of the cockpit, a wide California deck lets spectators
watch the action in comfort.

What's
more, on her flying bridge Valkyrie carries a 28-foot fishing boat, a
Kevlar and fiberglass catamaran that weighs in at nearly 7,500 pounds.
I'd think twice about calling it a tender. Perhaps worthy of a story
in its own right, the "small boat" is a Kevlacat, built in
Australia and powered by twin 125-hp Yanmar diesels fitted with MerCruiser
Alpha stern drives. So efficient is her hull form that relatively modest
engines easily drive her to a 30-mph cruise speed while delivering a 250-mile
range on only 140 gallons of fuel.

But
launching and retrieving the nearly four-ton boat proved to be an engineering
challenge. Valkyrie's owner was concerned about handling the tender
offshore, especially the possibility of the boat swinging into the deckhouse
during launch or retrieval in marginal weather and sea conditions, so
he specified that the davit must be able to handle the boat on either
side of the yacht or over the stern. To meet the requirement, Nautical
Structures provided a davit rated for 8,000 pounds with a 27-foot reach,
the largest-capacity double-extending davit the company ever built. But
that was the easy part.

A tougher
challenge confronted naval architect Jack Sarin and his team. With the
davit extended, its long arm was like a lever that amplified the weight
of the catamaran, producing huge loads in the bridge deck and its supporting
structure. The initial calculations showed that if the davit were to be
supported in the usual way, by a single standpipe, it would require a
steel column two feet in diameter rising up from the main deck. How could
the davit be supported without a massive foundation that would compromise
the aesthetics of the yacht?